Combined automatically fed pneumatic gun and target



Nov. 21, 1961 E. JENTSCH ET AL 3,009,703

COMBINED AUTOMATICALLY FED PNEUMATIC GUN AND TARGET Filed May 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2.9 T a l INVENTORS- ion 42a flewrsc/u Pose/er W. C'EONK Nov. 21, 1961 E.JENTSCH ETAL 3,009, 3

COMBINED AUTOMATICALLY FED PNEUMATIC GUN AND TARGET Filed May 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Poster M c/POA/K BY W 4/ TTORNEYS Patented Nov. 21, 1961 3,009,703 COMBINED AUTOMATICALLY FED PNEUMATIC GUN AND TARGET Edward Jentsch, 17 Marlboro Road, Clifton, N.J., and Robert W. Cronk, 36 Myers Ave., Denville, NJ. Filed May 6, 1958, Ser. No. 733,395 7 Claims. (Cl. 273-101) The present invention relates to a pneumatic gun and feed mechanism therefor. It relates, more particularly, to a pneumatic gun and feed mechanism for automatically loading the gun each time the gun is fired.

The present invention is a continuation-inpart of our copending application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 549,101 filed November 25, 1955 and since abandoned, entitled Pneumatic Gun and Projectile Return.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pneumatic gun which is automatically loaded and placed in condition for operation each time a projectile is fired from the gun. Another object of the invention is to provide a pneumatic gun from which projectiles can be fired with great rapidity and which will be continuously and positively fed with a supply of projectiles.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent and best understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view in partial section of an amusement device which includes a pneumatic gun and feed mechanism therefor embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in vertical section illustrating part of the pneumatic gun shown in FIG. 1, but on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of the feed mechanism illustrated in FIG. 1, but on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of a portion of the pneumatic gun shown in FIG. 2, illustrating the position or" the projectiles in the gun at the time of firing;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of a portion of the feed mechanism shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a section view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of a portion of the pneumatic gun shown in FIG. 2 and illustrates the loading thereof.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is a gun body 10 with a firing chamber 11 formed therein to receive projectiles 12.

The firing chamber 11 has a muzzle or discharge opening 13 in .the front or forward end of the gun body through which a projectile in the chamber may be fired or ejected from the gun. The chamber also has an inlet opening 14 located in the bottom of the gun body through which the projectiles are automatically fed into the chamber each time the gun is fired and a projectile in the chamber has been ejected.

The projectiles employed bay be ping-pong ball-s or the like which are light in weight so that they can be fired from the gun with considerable velocity without causing damage, but which also have hard, smooth exterior surfaces. The inlet opening to the firing chamber contains a series of spaced washers 15 which are made of a resilient or flexible material, such as rubber, and which form restrictions in the inlet opening through which projectiles entering the firing chamber must pass. The flexible washers have inner diameters which are smaller than the diameter of the projectiles'and are held in spaced relation by spacer rings 16. A retaining collar 17 which is secured to the gun body holds the washers and spacing rings in place in the inlet opening.

The inner edges of the washers may be beveled to.

slope downwardly and outwardly in order to facilitate the entry of the projectiles into the opening defined by the washers and the passage of the projectiles into the firing chamber without difiicu-lty or undue force. The spacing rings 16 have inwardly extending flanges 18 at their upper ends which form supporting surfaces for the washers supported on the respective rings. The flanges extend beneath portions of the washers and thus, re strict flexing of the washers in a downward direction. Such a restriction in the flexibility of the washers prevents a projectile from being forced rearwardly through the inlet opening under pressure from within the firing chamber while permitting the washer'to flex sufliciently to form an airtight seal between the projectile and washer and thus close the inlet opening during firing of the gun. The upper surface of the retaining collar similarly supports the bottom washer of the series of washers and restricts its flexing in a downward direction.

However, as is shown best in FIG. 8, the washers are free to flex in an upward direction to permit the passage of the projectiles through the washers and into the firing chamber without undue force. If desired, a single washer may be used in the inlet opening, but the use of a plurality of spaced washers insures that the inlet opening will be closed and sealed by a projectile engaging with one of the washers in the event compressed air is admitted to the firing chamber before a projectile has fully entered the chamber.

As shown best in FIG. 2, the muzzle opening also has a flexible washer 19 of resilient material mounted thereon. The washer in the muzzle opening, which may be shaped similarly to the washers in the inlet opening, has an inner diameter which is smaller than the diameter of the projectiles and thus, restricts the passage of the projectiles through the muzzle openings. The washer 19 is held in the gun is loaded and in condition for firing. One' of these.

projectiles is located in the muzzle opening and is forced into sealing engagement with the washer therein by air pressurefrom within the chamber. The other projectile is located in the inlet opening and is forced into sealing engagement with one of the washers of the series of.

washers therein by pressure from within the firing chamber.

Compressed air is admitted to the firing chamber through a port 21 in the rear wall thereof which cornmunicates with a fitting or pipe 22 containing a trigger operated valve 23 which controls the admission of compressed air to the fitting from a compressor 24 or other suitable source. A deflector 21a is interposed between the rear of the projectile in the muzzle opening and the port in the rear wall of the firing chamber so that the jet of air striking the rear of the projectile will not cause the projectile to be drawn back into the chamber and thus, destroy the seal between the projectile and the washer in the muzzle opening.

To prevent the possibility of two or more projectiles being fired from the gun upon a single operation of the trig-get, a vent 22a is provided in the fitting to release air pressure therefrom when the valve 23 returns to its normal position closing the connection to the air supply 7 in case of leakage from the air supply past said valve in 3 said position. The vent is closed by the valve when the valve is in open position.

As mentioned above, the pressure exerted by the compressed air on the projectiles in the firing chamber causes the projectile in the muzzle opening to form an airtight seal with the washer therein and causes the projectile in the inlet opening to form an airtight seal with one of the washers therein. Thus, there is no need for separate mechanism to close the inlet opening. When the firing chamber is sealed, the air pressure therein then builds pressure up to a point where the projectile in the muzzle opening is forced through the sealing washer therein and is ejected or fired from the gun. Such pressure does not force the other projectile through the inlet opening because of the greater resistance of the washers therein to flexing in outward direction.

When this takes place, a projectile is fired from the gun, the following projectile is then automatically advanced to a position in the muzzle opening and at the same time another projectile enters the firing chamber through the inlet opening. The successive projectiles are fedto the firing chamber from a hopper 25 through a length of expansible flexible tubing 25a which is coupled to the inlet opening and which constitutes a stack supporting means. As shown in FIG. 3, the hopper 25 contains a wheel 26 having projections on its surface shaped to engage with the projectiles as they pass through the hopper and into the feed tube and to apply a continuous bias to the stack of projectiles leading to the firing chamber 11. The drive wheel is mounted on a shaft 27 which may be driven by a small A.-C. torque motor 28 or other suitable source of power. Rotation of the drive wheel urges the projectiles in the feed tube with sufficient pressure to force the projectiles through the washers in the inlet opening, but the projectiles in the gun chamber should not be forced through the washer in the muzzle opening by such pressure. Such an arrangement enables the gun to be automatically loaded by the projectile feed mechanism alone and this result is accomplished by making the washers in the inlet more resilient than the washer in the muzzle opening.

The use of an A.-C. torque motor permits the motor to be stopped without damage for considerable periods of time when the projectiles are in the firing chamber and the gun has not been fired. However, other types of motors and slip clutches may be employed to rotate the drive wheel if desired, as described in our application referred to herein.

As the projectiles are fired from the gun, they strike a target 29 in the form of a housing and are directed therefrom through a conduit means shown in the form of a tube 30 to the hopper. Thus, the projectiles fired from the gun are returned thereto and a continuous supply of projectiles is assured at all times without the need of replenishing the supply.

Due to variations in the sizes of the projectiles, the projectiles in the firing chamber may not fill in the interior of the firing chamber and a condition such as illustrated in FIG. 4 will exist as the gun is fired. Under these conditions, the second projectile will be forced rearwardly to a slight extent to form a seal with the upper washer in the inlet and the following projectiles may be forced rearwardly for a slight distance. Such rearward movement will be accommodated by the expansion of the feed tube and by reverse movement of the drive wheel, as indicated in FIG. 5.

It will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the embodiment of the invention as described and illustrated herein Without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. An automatic loading pneumatic gun comprising a gun body having a firing chamber adapted to hold a projectile therein and having a discharge muzzle opening and an inlet opening, means for admitting air under pressure into said chamber to expel pneumatically a projectile in said chamber through said discharge opening, means at said discharge opening adapted to cooperate with a projectile in said chamber urged pneumatically towards said discharge opening for sealing said discharge opening against the escape of air therethrough while permitting said projectile to be expelled through said discharge opening, means for continuously biasing a stack of projectiles towards said inlet opening with enough force to cause the lead projectile in said stack to pass through said inlet opening and into said chamber automatically as the projectile in said chamber is being expelled from said firing chamber through said discharge opening, means extending between said biasing means and said inlet opening for supporting said stack of projectiles in feed relation to said inlet opening, means adapted to cooperate with the lead projectile of said stack as said lead projectile is urged through said inlet opening for sealing said inlet opening against the escape of air therethrough while permitting the latter projectile to pass through said inlet opening and into said chamber, a target in the firing line of the firing chamber and in the range of fire of the gun forming a housing to receive the projectiles directed towards the target, and conduit means between said target and said biasing means, said biasing means including means for transferring the projectiles successively from said conduit means to said stack automatically as each lead projectile in said stack passes into said chamber, whereby projectiles are successively and continuously discharged from the discharge opening without the need of replenishing the supply of projectiles as long as air under pressure is admitted continuously to said firing chamber.

2. An automatic loading pneumatic gun as described in claim 1, wherein the sealing means at the discharge opening includes a resilient washer having a hole through which the projectiles pass from the firing chamber smaller than the projectiles, said washer being flexible in an outward direction in relation to the firing chamber to permit ejection of the projectile through said hole, and the sealing means at the inlet opening includes a resilient washer having a hole through which the projectiles pass from the stack smaller than the projectiles, the latter washer being flexible in an inward direction in relation to the firing chamber to permit passage of the projectiles from said stack successively through the latter hole.

3. An automatic loading pneumatic gun as defined in claim 1, wherein the projectiles handled by the gun are spherical and the firing chamber in the gun body has a port therein for admitting air under pressure to said chamber and has its direction of discharge in line with the direction of discharge of the projectile from said chamber, and wherein a deflector is provided in said chamber in the path of the stream of air from said port, for dividing the air stream before being projected against the projectile at the discharge opening to prevent the latter projectile from being drawn away from said discharge opening by the current induced around the latter projectile by said stream.

4. An automatic loading pneutmatic gun as defined in claim 3, wherein said inlet and discharge openings are arranged in relation to each other and to the firing chamber, so that the direction of discharge of the projectile from said discharge opening is transverse to the direction of passage of the projectile through said inlet opening and into said chamber, said deflector extending between said openings.

5. An automatic loading pneumatic gun as described in claim 1, wherein the means for admitting air into said firing chamber includes a spring-pressed valve and a fitting therefor having an inlet port communicating with a source of air under pressure and an outlet port communicating with said firing chamber, and wherein means are provided for manually controlling said valve for operation selective ly into positions to open and close said inlet port.

67 An automatic loading pneumatic gun as described in claim 1, wherein the means for biasing the stack of projectiles towards said inlet opening comprises a motor and a rotary member driven by said motor and located in the path of the projectiles as they move between said conduit means and'said stack supporting means, said rotary member having means for transferring the projectiles successively from said conduit means to said stack supporting means and for simultaneously applying bias to said stack urging said stack towards said inlet opening, said biasing means also comprising means permitting the.

speed of saidrotary member to vary in accordance with i UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,822,946 Levitt Sept. 15, 1931 2,238,384 Feltman Apr. 15, 1941 2,525,082 Sherman Oct. 10, 1950 2,594,185 Lefever Apr. 22, 1952 2,594,745 Di Meo Apr. 29, 1952 2,601,555 Pope June 24, 1952 2,618,254 Wells Nov. 18, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 187,419 Germany July 20, 1907 Great Britain 1912 

